The past two seasons, the Far West League football title ultimately was decided by the game between Siuslaw and North Bend.

That won’t be the case this year, after Siuslaw lost its league opener to Douglas last week, but that result won’t take any luster off Friday night’s showdown at North Bend.

The game, which comes on the same night North Bend celebrates Miss Flame, features two programs that have strong traditions and great respect for each other.

“North Bend’s always a competitive school, which makes the ballgame fun,” said Siuslaw coach Tim Dodson. “They play well and they do things well. They challenge us and give us a great opportunity to prove ourselves again.”

The Bulldogs opened the league season with a 20-8 win at Sutherlin, their fifth straight victory overall, last week. Though Siuslaw lost 40-14 at Douglas, North Bend coach Rick Taylor is making sure his players don’t underestimate the Vikings.

“They’re going to be one of the most well-coached teams that we face,” Taylor said. “Tim does a great job with his players. They’ve got tradition. They’ve got a great quarterback and good receivers.

“They’re a very good ballclub.”

Siuslaw won the two previous matchups, both with Jacob Mitchell at quarterback.

Mitchell is a senior now, and will be the key player for the Vikings, and the key focus for North Bend, on Friday.

“There’s a lot of ways a quarterback with that kind of skill can beat you,” Taylor said, referring to Mitchell’s abilities to make the right decisions in the veer option attack and to be  a threat either running or passing. “He’s a talented guy and he’s got other talented kids around him as well.”

This year, Mitchell also has been one of Siuslaw’s top defenders in the backfield.

Siuslaw’s defense figures to get tested by North Bend’s potent attack, which blends the wing-T and triple option and seems to be getting better each week.

“They’ve got speed,” Dodson said. “They’ve got power. They’ve got big kids up front. They’ve got receivers. They’ve got kids that can throw the ball.”

Taylor is pleased with how his offense has performed, and said little wrinkles are being added each week.

“We’re making inroads because we get more of our package in each week,” he said. “We’re putting things in and using parts of offense that I think makes it very difficult to prepare for us.”

That, Taylor said, helps the Bulldogs because their foe each week can’t spend as much time on its own offense.

“You really want to bite into the other team’s practice time as much as possible,” he said.

Both squads have been battling through injuries, which will continue to play a role this week.

“We have guys playing out of position,” Dodson said, adding that the Vikings are trying to fill in all the gaps.

“The kids are working hard,” he said. “They’re a great group of kids to coach. We’re trying to take care of ourselves and do what we can do.”

North Bend, meanwhile, lost linebacker Craig Banry for the season last week when he suffered his second dislocated shoulder.

“That’s a real loss,” Taylor said. “He’s a smart and scrappy player. Plus, the kids have a lot of respect for him.”

The Bulldogs also have “other kids out with injury and kids out for other reasons,” Taylor said.

Last week, the Bulldogs were able to overcome the absence of 11 key players because of injuries or disciplinary reasons.

“We found out last week that there’s kids that will give us everything they’ve got,” Taylor said. “You can’t beat that.”

And though North Bend enters this week’s game with the No. 6 ranking in the state poll, Taylor has no doubt that his players will stay focused against the Vikings.

“We basically tell them each week that this is the biggest game of the year, because it’s the game this week,” Taylor said. “Last week, Sutherlin was the biggest game of the year.

“The kids know that this has traditionally always been a really, really good game. I think what it has done, they’re certainly not thinking that we don’t have to worry about Siuslaw. They know we do. They know it’s going to be a close game and they know Siuslaw is going to be prepared.”

Notes: As part of an annual celebration of the ties between the North Bend Fire Department and North Bend High School, Miss Flame will be crowned during halftime ceremonies Friday. This year’s Miss Flame court includes Blair Davis, Katherine Melton and Shelby Bishop.